Help get my 03' LS V8 Sport back to good condition

A

Addickted2me9

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What I have:

Black 2003 LS V8 Sport w/ navigation. 67k miles.

Whats wrong:

Navigation touch screen only works sometimes, it will take quite a few taps before it recognizes what I'm pressing and sometimes that doesn't even work. Although when I'm in the audio screen everything works perfectly.

Center console release button is cracked, I have to play with it to keep it shut. Is there a place I can buy another one? Just the lid?

The leather on the driver side seat has worn down to create a hole. Anything I can cover this up with, or do I just need to replace the whole thing?

The panel on the back of the passenger seat is broken and wont stay attached to the seat, so all the wires for the heated/cooled seats are unprotected.

The car has been overheating a lot lately, mostly when the car is idle or I'm driving under 40 mph. The temperature will rise almost instantly as soon as I pull out of the drive way. It did this a few months ago and a brilliant co-worker of mine added coolant and it didn't happen again until last week. As soon as I speed up the temperature will go back to normal, but now my engine light is on. This morning on my way to work, it happened again and this time I ignored it, thinking it would go away again and the car slowed down and said Engine Power Reduced :mad:. I left it parked hoping it will be better when I get off of work. After I parked I could hear the coollant (or whatever that was) boiling.

Lincoln replaced the catalytic converter about 6k miles ago free of charge since that part was covered under warranty. This did not start happening to me until they replaced it. Is this just a coincidence?

A little more about me and the car...

I'm a 24, and a woman, and I know very little about cars. I bought the car off eBay for only 5k back in January. I was able to see it before I purchased it since it was only 50 miles from me, but I wasn't able to drive it (no one ever seemed to be home). It was owned by a family in their 50's I can tell it wasn't taken good care of. The car runs and drives very smooth besides the overheating problem. I have cleaned up the car a lot and have some dings and chipped paint to fix.

I want to get this car back to looking the way it is supposed to so any advice would be helpful :D

Sorry so long but like most women, I have a lot to say:p
 
Low speed overheating sounds like fans or fan relays. The fan keeps the fluid in the radiator cool when there's not enough air blowing over it. Definitely get that checked out before driving it again. You don't want to overheat aluminum like that and I'm not sure the limp mode is all that safe.
 
Could also be the thermostat.


Try ebay or LKQ or www.greenleafauto.com for the center armrest. They will be your best bet other than getting a new assembly from the dealer. Give Max at 5-Star a call------->

As for the seat, call your local BMW/Mercedes/Jag dealer and see who they use for leather repair. They should be able to hook you up with someone that will make that hole virtually disappear.

There is a thread here somewhere on a relatively easy way to fix the seatback.

Not sure about the nav screen. The units show up on ebay from time to time.
 
Nav: The stock nav is flat out poor quality for this day and age, I am sure it was really cool in 2003 and 2004, but the touchscreen is laggy and random, and the graphics are equivalent to Windows 97 - mine also sometimes doesn't recognize me touching it, and sometimes you have to hold ur finger there for a while.

Seat Panel: Mine is also broken, I attached it back with L brackets, but it still leaves a gap as every single clip is broken off, dealer will replace for $200. Mine has been off for forever, with the panel in the trunk.


Overheating: Since you say adding coolant helped a month ago, I would say the overheating is from a cracked/leaky degas bottle. Replace the bottle yourself and save money, it is not very difficult.


Oh and welcome to the forum, there is pretty much zero regular female posters, and I think the ones who rarely posted in the past - did not really mod their cars or anything. You should break the cycle!


Also, post pics... of the car too. :shifty:
 
Thanks for the responses. I was worried about the car all day today, so i brought it to a friend that works at a dealership this afternoon. He has done work for me in the past on other cars and I'm hoping he won't let me down on the LS.

As far as the seat panel...the only reason I want to replace it is becuase I have two toddlers that think it's cool to touch the wires, and my hand can't reach back far enough to slap them :shifty:

I also have a brown and tan interior..am I the only one that thinks is odd, or is this normal in a black LS?

I will take pics when I get it back.
 
i did a fix to the broken lid handle....gotta take that sucker apart...and crazy glue...and i forgot the other glue i used but it was black...and it should hold....it only broke again after my boys dumba$$ tried to open it without knowing u have to open it with handles...
 
Addickted2me9 said:
I will take pics when I get it back.
Click to expand...


must_not_fap.jpg
 
Just throwing this out there, but I've seen it before, you did check to see that you have coolant in and the coolant tank isn't empty right? Just want to make sure you cover the obvious and make sure you actually have coolant. You do not want to drive very long with the car over heating, you'll end up breaking more things and pushing up the bill.


For the nav, I thought the nav had a sensitivity adjustment, like a sensitivity test or something like that. Maybe I'm mistaking it for something else.
 
djknowledge said:
i did a fix to the broken lid handle....gotta take that sucker apart...and crazy glue...and i forgot the other glue i used but it was black...and it should hold....it only broke again after my boys dumba$$ tried to open it without knowing u have to open it with handles...
Click to expand...

wow dj no nice f8ck you welcome all cuz shes a girl yous a b1tch :p
 
Awww you boys are so sweet to each other.

As far as the coolant goes, yes I checked the coolant it was full and I think that's what was boiling. Hopefully I will get a call sometime today letting me know what's wrong

I'm driving my Moms Focus for the time being, and it sucks. I haven't driven anywhere in the car except to work. I'm pretty much embarassed to drive it, especially after driving my LS. Not to mention how long it takes for me to pass someone up.

Glad to see some Michigan people..I moved from Grand Rapids a few years ago.
 
Andrizzle said:
Overheating: Since you say adding coolant helped a month ago, I would say the overheating is from a cracked/leaky degas bottle. Replace the bottle yourself and save money, it is not very difficult.
Click to expand...

F*ck you. :p For some reason, it was a real beotch getting the hose back on the tank when I did it. But I'd bet it's a combination of the brass tube coming loose inside the bottle, and a crack. Mine had both of those symptoms.
 
I was told by a mechanic I have a blown head gasket. What kind of price am I looking at, and should I get a second opinion or are blown head gaskets pretty much obvious?
 
Is there coolant in your oil? Or vice versa? Check your dipstick. If it looks like chocolate milk, then yes, probably a head gasket.

I'm guessing he's wrong though.
 
Yea it is possible since you said your coolant was boiling. But he could just be tryna swindle you.

If it is the head gasket, I'm sure it's safe to assume that is big bucks.

I would try and get another opinion. And yes do what pektel said andcheck for oil and coolant mixing together.
 
When the brass tube became disconnected inside my degas bottle, and the bottle itself was cracked, it would make the boiling noise too when it overheated.
 
I brought it the dealership this morning, and they are saying I need to replace the thermostat and the heater control valve. I'm looking at about $660 after parts are labor.

I also checked the oil and it's milk free!

I hope this takes care of the overheating problem.
 
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